Electronic apparatus, image sensing apparatus, control method and storage medium

ABSTRACT

An electronic apparatus includes a first operation unit and second operation unit, and performs the first function in accordance with an operation to the first operation unit and an operation to the second operation unit. When an instruction to perform the first function is accepted from an operation to the first operation unit, the electronic apparatus displays first operational display items for accepting, from an operation to the first operation unit, an instruction to perform the second function different from the first function. When an instruction to perform the first function is accepted from an operation to the second operation unit, the electronic apparatus displays second operational display items for accepting, from an operation to the second operation unit, an instruction to perform the second function.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus, image sensingapparatus, control method, and storage medium, and particularly to aninput control technique for an apparatus including a plurality of typesof user interfaces.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, there are many apparatuses each equipped with a display deviceincluding a touch panel sensor for which a human finger, stylus, and thelike serve as input means. The user can intuitively operate an apparatusof this type by an operation of directly touching an item or the likedisplayed on the display device. A display device including a touchpanel sensor has also been introduced into an image sensing apparatussuch as a digital camera, and is used for operations and the like inplayback of still images and moving images (Japanese Patent Laid-OpenNos. 2000-122779 and 2004-104594).

The introduction of a display device including a touch panel sensor canreduce physical operation members such as a switch arranged on theapparatus because various operation inputs can be implemented byswitching the screen display. However, in an apparatus for which acustomary operation method exists, such as an image sensing apparatus, atouch operation is not always an optimal input means for the user. Forthis reason, in an electronic apparatus such as an image sensingapparatus, both a physical operation member and touch operation aresometimes assigned as input means for one function.

As recent electronic apparatuses become multifunctional, a functionselection item, operation instruction, and the like are displayed on thedisplay device of the electronic apparatus. In this case, when aplurality of input means such as a physical operation member and touchoperation are assigned to one function, as described above, thefollowing problem occurs.

An item displayed on the display device for a touch operation has apredetermined size to avoid the need for a careful touch operation whena target to be touched is small, or to avoid erroneous recognition of aselected item as an adjacent item by the touch panel sensor. However,items displayed for touch operations may impair the visibility of thedisplay device for the user when he operates the electronic apparatususing physical operation members.

When both an operation instruction in the use of physical operationmembers and an operation instruction in a touch operation are displayed,either operation instruction is unnecessary information for a user whoprefers an operation using the other type of input means, and may impairthe visibility of the display device. Also, when an operationinstruction for either an operation with physical operation members or atouch operation is displayed, the user may change the operation methodin accordance with the display contents. At this time, to change theoperation method, the user needs to switch the hand holding theelectronic apparatus main body or the operation member of the electronicapparatus from one to the other, complicating the user operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems.The present invention provides an electronic apparatus, image sensingapparatus, control method, and storage medium for presenting appropriateinformation in accordance with a user operation.

The present invention in its first aspect provides an electronicapparatus comprising: a first operation unit; a second operation unit; aperforming unit configured to perform a first function in accordancewith one of an operation to the first operation unit and an operation tothe second operation unit; and a display control unit configured to,when the performing unit performs the first function in accordance withan operation to the first operation unit, control a display unit todisplay first operational display items for accepting, from an operationto the first operation unit, an instruction to perform a second functiondifferent from the first function, and when the performing unit performsthe first function in accordance with an operation to the secondoperation unit, control the display unit to display second operationaldisplay items for accepting, from an operation to the second operationunit, an instruction to perform the second function.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of adigital camera 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining operation members arranged in thedigital camera 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart exemplifying moving image playback processingaccording to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are views each exemplifying a screen display inmoving image playback according to the embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart exemplifying processing during playback accordingto the embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are views for explaining an operation method usingtouch operational display items according to the embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart exemplifying Touch operational Processingaccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that anembodiment set forth will describe an example of applying the presentinvention to a digital camera 100 serving as an example of an electronicapparatus in which a plurality of operations are associated with aninstruction to perform one function. However, the present invention isapplicable to an arbitrary apparatus in which operations to differenttypes of operation members are assigned to one function.

In this specification, a “physical operation member” is an object havinga fixed physical shape such as a button or switch, which is moved orrotated to detect an operation (to be also referred to as a “mechanicaloperation member”). To the contrary, a “touch operation” in thisspecification is an operation which is not accompanied by movement orrotation of an object having a fixed physical shape, and generates anelectrical change when the touch operation is input. The touch operationis different from an operation input to a physical operation member.Note that the touch operation may be accompanied by deformation of anobject having a fixed physical shape.

Arrangement of Digital Camera 100

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of thedigital camera 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

A system control unit 101 is, for example, a CPU, and controls theoperation of each block of the digital camera 100. More specifically,the system control unit 101 reads out the operation program of movingimage playback processing (to be described later) that is stored in aROM 102, expands it in a RAM 103, and performs it, thereby controllingthe operation of each block.

The ROM 102 is, for example, a rewritable nonvolatile memory, and storesthe operation program of each block of the digital camera 100, such asthe operation program of moving image playback processing. The ROM 102stores parameters and the like necessary for the operation of eachblock.

The RAM 103 is a volatile memory, and is used not only as an expansionarea for the operation program of each block of the digital camera 100,but also as a storage area which stores intermediate data output in theoperation of each block.

An image sensing unit 105 includes an image sensor such as a CCD sensoror CMOS sensor. The image sensing unit 105 photoelectrically converts anoptical image formed on the light-receiving surface of the image sensorvia an imaging optical system 104, and generates an analog image signal.The image sensing unit 105 applies various processes including A/Dconversion processing to the obtained analog image signal, outputtingdigital image data (to be simply referred to as an image hereinafter).In the embodiment, the image sensing unit 105 can capture at least amoving image.

An image processing unit 106 applies various image processes to an imageoutput from the image sensing unit 105 or an image read out from arecording medium 107 (to be described later). Also, the image processingunit 106 performs composition processing to read out GUI data stored inthe ROM 102 and superimpose the GUI on an image. In the embodiment, theimage processing unit 106 performs composition processing tosuperimpose, on an image, items for issuing instructions to performvarious functions associated with moving image playback in moving imageplayback.

The recording medium 107 is, for example, an internal memory in thedigital camera 100, or a recording device such as an HDD or memory cardremovably connected to the digital camera 100. The recording medium 107records images and moving images which have been output from the imagesensing unit 105 and have undergone image processing by the imageprocessing unit 106.

A display unit 108 is, for example, a display device such as an LCDarranged in the digital camera 100. The display unit 108 displays animage having undergone D/A conversion processing by the image processingunit 106. The display unit 108 functions as an electronic viewfinder bydisplaying an analog image signal output from the imaging optical system104. The display unit 108 in the embodiment is a touch panel including atouch panel sensor 130 (to be described later) arranged on the displaysurface.

An operation input unit 109 manages an input from the user interface ofthe digital camera 100. More specifically, when the operation input unit109 detects an operation performed by the user for each user interface,it outputs a control signal corresponding to the operation to the systemcontrol unit 101.

User Interface of Digital Camera 100

User interfaces arranged in the digital camera 100 according to theembodiment will be explained with reference to the outer appearance viewof the digital camera 100 in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, user interfaces arranged in the digital camera 100according to the embodiment include, as physical operation members, apower switch 111, shutter button 112, mode switch 113, delete button114, menu button 115, SET button 116, controller wheel 117, and four-wayselector key 120.

The power switch 111 is an interface which switches the activation stateof the digital camera 100.

The shutter button 112 is an interface for issuing a shootingpreparation instruction and shooting instruction to the digital camera100. The operation input unit 109 recognizes these two instructions inaccordance with a stroke of pressing of the shutter button 112 by theuser. More specifically, when the shutter button 112 changes to ahalfway pressing state (half stroke), the operation input unit 109generates an SW1 signal representing the shooting preparationinstruction, and when the shutter button 112 changes to a full pressingstate (full stroke), generates an SW2 signal representing the shootinginstruction.

The mode switch 113 is an interface for switching the operation mode ofthe digital camera 100. The operation mode of the digital camera 100includes, for example, a still image recording mode, moving imagerecording mode, and playback mode. Note that moving image playbackprocessing (to be described later) is processing which is performed bythe system control unit 101 when the mode switch 113 is set in theplayback mode.

The delete button 114 is an interface for issuing an instruction todelete a still image or moving image recorded on the recording medium107.

The menu button 115 is an interface for switching the presence/absenceof a menu display for making various settings of the digital camera 100.

The SET button 116 is an interface for issuing, for example, aninstruction to decide a selected item in the menu display.

The controller wheel 117 is an interface for, for example, switching theshooting mode between the aperture-priority mode, the shutter-prioritymode, and the like in the still image shooting mode, and performing amanual focus adjustment operation.

The four-way selector key 120 is an interface for issuing, for example,an instruction to change a selected item in the menu display. Thefour-way selector key 120 includes an up button 121, down button 122,left button 123, and right button 124. By using these four buttons, theuser can move, for example, an item selection frame and change an itemto be selected. The four-way selector key 120 may be used for, forexample, a volume change instruction, frame feeding instruction, and thelike in moving image playback.

It will readily occur that the respective physical operation members arenot limited to the above-described functions, and may be assigned tovarious operations in accordance with a state during processing.

User interfaces arranged in the digital camera 100 according to theembodiment include the touch panel sensor 130 different from a physicaloperation member. The touch panel sensor 130 is made of a materialhaving a transmittance which ensures good visibility of display on thedisplay unit 108. The touch panel sensor 130 is attached to the toplayer of the display surface of the display unit 108. Coordinates atwhich a touch operation detected by the touch panel sensor 130 has beeninput are associated with display coordinates on the display unit 108.The sensing method of the touch panel sensor 130 suffices to be of atype capable of detecting a touch operation input with a person's fingeror stylus, such as a resistive type, capacitance type, surface acousticwave type, infrared type, electromagnetic induction type, imagerecognition type, or photosensor type.

The terms of touch operations (contact inputs) recognizable by the touchpanel sensor 130, which are used in the description of thisspecification, will be explained.

Touch-down: touching the touch panel with a is or pen (start of acontact input to the touch panel)

Touch-on: a state in which a finger or pen is touching the touch panel(a state in which a contact input to the touch panel is in progress)

Move: moving a finger or pen while keeping it in contact with the touchpanel (moving the contact position on the touch panel in the touch-onstate)

Touch-up: releasing the finger or pen from the touch panel (end of acontact input to the touch panel after touch-on)

Flick: a touch-up operation immediately after move at a predeterminedspeed or higher (for example, flicking with a finger)

Touch-off: a state in which nothing touches the touch panel (a state inwhich there is no contact input)

Note that touch operations detected using the touch panel sensor 130 inthe present invention are not limited to these six states.

Moving Image Playback Processing

Moving image playback processing associated with playback of a movingimage recorded on the recording medium 107 in the digital camera 100having the above-described arrangement according to the embodiment willbe explained in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3.Processing corresponding to the flowchart can be implemented when, forexample, the system control unit 101 reads out a correspondingprocessing program stored in the ROM 102, expands it in the RAM 103, andperforms it. In the following embodiment, the moving image playbackprocessing starts when, for example, the operation mode of the digitalcamera 100 is the playback mode and an instruction to display, on thedisplay unit 108, one moving image file recorded on the recording medium107 is issued.

In step S301, the system control unit 101 acquires a typical image of amoving image file (target moving image) for which the displayinstruction has been issued. More specifically, the system control unit101 reads out the target moving image from the recording medium 107,expands it in the RAM 103, and acquires a typical image. Note that thetypical image may be the image of a predetermined frame such as thefirst frame of a target moving image. The typical image may be embeddedas metadata in the target moving image or an image file associated withthe target moving image.

In step S302, the system control unit 101 reads out, from the ROM 102,GUI data of an item for accepting a target moving image playback startinstruction. Then, the system control unit 101 transmits the GUI data tothe image processing unit 106, and controls the image processing unit106 to superimpose it on the typical image. The system control unit 101transmits the item-superimposed typical image to the display unit 108,and controls the display unit 108 to display it.

In the embodiment, as the item for accepting a target moving imageplayback instruction, two types of items 401 and 402 as shown in FIG. 4Aare superimposed on a typical image. The item 401 is an item fornotifying the user of an operation member which can be used to display aplayback tool 410 including an item (playback item) 412 for a targetmoving image playback start instruction, as shown in FIG. 4B. The item401 notifies the user that the playback tool 410 can be displayed byoperating the SET button 116 out of physical operation members. The item402 is an item for a target moving image playback start instruction in atouch operation.

In step S303, the system control unit 101 determines whether the userhas pressed the SET button 116. More specifically, the system controlunit 101 determines whether the SET button 116 has been pressed, bydetermining whether a control signal representing that the SET button116 has been operated has been received from the operation input unit109. If the system control unit 101 determines that the user has pressedthe SET button 116, it shifts the process to step S304; if it determinesthat the user has not pressed the SET button 116, to step S306.

In step S304, the system control unit 101 reads out, from the ROM 102,GUI data of the playback tool 410 including the playback item 412 forthe target moving image, transmits it to the image processing unit 106,and controls the image processing unit 106 to superimpose it on thetypical image. The system control unit 101 transmits, to the displayunit 108, the typical image on which the playback tool 410 issuperimposed, and controls the display unit 108 to display the typicalimage. At this time, the playback tool 410 is displayed while theplayback item 412 is selected (for example, color highlight display ordisplay of a selection frame).

In step S305, the system control unit 101 determines whether the userhas pressed the SET button 116 to issue an instruction to perform theplayback start function while the playback item 412 is selected on theplayback tool 410. Note that the system control unit 101 updates andmanages information representing an item selected on the playback tool410 every time, for example, control signals corresponding to the leftbutton 123 and right button 124 used for instructions to switch aselection item are received. If the system control unit 101 determinesthat the user has pressed the SET button 116 while the playback item 412is selected, it shifts the process to step S307; if it determines thatthe user has not pressed the SET button 116, repeats the processing ofthis step.

In addition to the playback item 412 for a moving image playback startinstruction, the playback tool 410 includes items for instructing toperform other functions. In the example of FIG. 4B, the playback tool410 includes a return instruction item 411, slow playback item 413,move-to-start item 414, frame reverse item 415, frame advance item 416,move-to-end item 417, and volume control item 418. The respective itemscorrespond to a transition instruction to the screen of FIG. 4A, a slowplayback start instruction, a display instruction for the first frame ofa moving image, a display instruction for the image of an immediatelypreceding frame, a display instruction for the image of an immediatelysucceeding frame, a display instruction for the final frame of a movingimage, and a volume control instruction.

In the moving image playback processing of the embodiment, whether aplayback start instruction has been issued is determined in step S305for the sake of simplicity. When an item other than the playback item412 has been selected, the system control unit 101 performs processingcorresponding to the item. More specifically, if the playback startinstruction is issued while the return instruction item 411 is selected,the system control unit 101 returns the process to step S302 andcontrols the display unit 108 to display again a typical image on whichthe items 401 and 402 are superimposed. If the playback startinstruction is issued while the frame reverse item 415, frame advanceitem 416, and move-to-end item 417 are selected, the system control unit101 controls the display unit 108 to display the image of acorresponding frame on which the playback tool 410 is superimposed. Ifthe playback start instruction is issued while the volume control item418 is selected, the system control unit 101 changes the setting of anoutput to a loudspeaker (not shown) in accordance with the count atwhich control signals have been received from the up button 121 and downbutton 122 for changing the volume.

If the system control unit 101 determines in step S303 that the SETbutton 116 has not been pressed, it determines in step S306 whether aplayback start instruction has been issued by a touch operation. Morespecifically, the system control unit 101 determines thepresence/absence of a playback start instruction by determining whethera control signal representing that a touch operation has been input in apredetermined region set in correspondence with the item 402 has beenreceived from the operation input unit 109. If the system control unit101 determines that a playback start instruction has been issued by atouch operation, it shifts the process to step S307; if it determinesthat no playback start instruction has been issued, returns the processto step S303.

In step S307, the system control unit 101 starts playback of a movingimage from the position of a frame image displayed on the display unit108. In the digital camera 100 according to the embodiment, only theimage of a frame of a moving image is displayed on the display unit 108,as shown in FIG. 4C, in order to ensure good visibility of the movingimage during playback. After the start of playback, processing duringplayback in FIG. 5 is performed.

Processing During Playback

Processing during playback which is performed during moving imageplayback in the digital camera 100 according to the embodiment will beexplained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5.

In step S501, the system control unit 101 determines whether touch-downto the touch panel sensor 130 has been input. If the system control unit101 determines that touch-down has been input, it shifts the process tostep S502; if it determines that no touch-down has been input, to stepS504.

In step S502, the system control unit 101 stops the moving imageplayback currently underway. In this manner, touch-down to the touchpanel sensor 130 during moving image playback can issue a moving imageplayback stop instruction (instruction to perform the first function).Note that touch-down serving as a playback stop instruction may be inputin any region on the display surface of the display unit 108.

In step S503, the system control unit 101 reads out, from the ROM 102,GUI data of a return instruction touch item 601, playback touch item602, sequence touch item 603, and volume control touch item 604 shown inFIG. 6A. The system control unit 101 transmits the readout items (touchoperational display items) to the image processing unit 106, andcontrols the image processing unit 106 to generate a composite image 610in which these items are superimposed on a stop frame image 600. Thesystem control unit 101 transmits the obtained composite image 610 tothe display unit 108, controls the display unit 108 to display it, andthen performs Touch operational Processing to be described later withreference to FIG. 7.

In step S504, the system control unit 101 determines whether the SETbutton 116 has been pressed. If the system control unit 101 determinesthat the SET button 116 has been pressed, it shifts the process to stepS505; if it determines that the SET button 116 has not been pressed,returns it to step S501.

In step S505, the system control unit 101 stops the moving imageplayback currently underway. In this way, a moving image playback stopinstruction (instruction to perform the first function) can be issued bypressing the SET button 116 serving as a physical operation memberduring moving image playback.

In step S506, the system control unit 101 reads out, from the ROM 102,GUI data of the playback tool 410 (operation member display item) shownin FIG. 4B, transmits it to the image processing unit 106, and controlsthe image processing unit 106 to generate a composite image in which theGUI data is superimposed on the stop frame image 600. The system controlunit 101 transmits the obtained composite image to the display unit 108,and controls the display unit 108 to display it. Then, the systemcontrol unit 101 shifts to the processing of step S305 in FIG. 3described above.

As described above, when a playback stop instruction is issued for amoving image currently being played back, the digital camera 100according to the embodiment switches a GUI to be displayed in accordancewith whether the operation is an operation to a physical operationmember or a touch operation detected by the touch panel sensor. The GUIto be displayed is formed from items for accepting an instruction toperform a function associated with playback of a stopped moving image.The GUI includes an item for accepting an instruction to perform atleast one of the playback start function, volume control function, andframe feeding function. At this time, the GUI is displayed together witha frame image of the moving image. However, since the visibility of theframe image degrades in proportion to the size of the display area ofthe GUI, an item for accepting an instruction to perform the movingimage playback stop function is hidden. That is, when an instruction toperform the first function is issued, the digital camera 100 accordingto the embodiment superimposes and displays, on a frame image, the GUIof a display item for accepting an instruction to perform the secondfunction (for example, frame feeding) different the first function.

When a playback stop instruction is issued by an operation to a physicaloperation member, a GUI to be displayed is formed from only operationmember display items for accepting, from an operation to a physicaloperation member, an instruction to perform a function associated withmoving image playback. When a playback stop instruction is issued by atouch operation, a GUI to be displayed is formed from only touchoperational display items for accepting, from a touch operation, aninstruction to perform a function associated with moving image playback.More specifically, display items displayed upon receiving an instructionto perform the playback stop function are formed from only items foraccepting only a performance instruction corresponding to an input meanswhich has issued the instruction. With this setting, the digital camera100 according to the embodiment can consistently perform, even after thestop of a moving image, an operation method (an operation to a physicaloperation member or a touch operation) which has been input by the useras a playback stop function performance instruction. In other words, theuser can issue another performance instruction associated with movingimage playback by an operation method of the same type without switchingthe hand holding the digital camera 100 from one to the other.

In the digital camera 100 according to the embodiment, the systemcontrol unit 101 may restrict operation inputs to be accepted, dependingon which of operation member display items or touch operational displayitems are currently being displayed. More specifically, when a playbackstop function performance instruction is issued using a physicaloperation member, the system control unit 101 may not accept, from atouch operation, an instruction to perform a function included in theoperation member display items, that is, it accepts the instruction fromonly an operation to a physical operation member. In this case, even ifthe system control unit 101 receives, from the operation input unit 109,a control signal representing that a touch operation has been input, itdoes not process the control signal as an instruction to perform afunction associated with moving image playback. When a playback stopfunction performance instruction is issued using a touch operation, thesystem control unit 101 may not accept, from an operation to a physicaloperation member, an instruction to perform a function associated withmoving image playback that is included in the touch operational displayitems, that is, it accepts the instruction from only a touch operation.In this case, even if the system control unit 101 receives, from theoperation input unit 109, a control signal representing that anoperation to a physical operation member has been input, it does notprocess the control signal as an instruction to perform a functionassociated with moving image playback. Note that an instruction toperform a function other than the function associated with moving imageplayback, for example, an instruction to perform a function to escapefrom the screen of FIG. 4A may be issued by a physical operation member.In the embodiment, an instruction to escape from the screen of FIG. 4Amay be accepted in response to pressing of the SET button 116. Anoperation to escape from the operation of FIG. 4A in which aninstruction to perform a function associated with moving image playbackis issued by only a touch operation is considered to be input in asituation in which a series of operations associated with moving imageplayback has ended. In this situation, the user may switch the handholding the digital camera 100 from one to the other.

As described above, each touch operation display item has apredetermined size to avoid the need for a careful touch operation whena target to be touched with a finger becomes small, or to avoiderroneous recognition of a selected item as an adjacent item by thetouch panel sensor. To the contrary, each operation member display itemneed not be equal in size to a touch operation display item. Eachoperation member display item suffices to have a size enough to allowvisual recognition and selection of a physical operation member. Thus,each operation member display item can be smaller than the display rangeof a touch operation display item for accepting an instruction toperform the same function.

When operation member display items or touch operational display itemsare displayed in the above-described processing during playback, andthen the user issues an instruction to perform a function assigned toeach item, the system control unit 101 performs correspondingprocessing. For example, when the user presses the SET button 116 whileselecting the playback item 412, or touches the playback touch item 602to issue an instruction to perform the playback start function, thesystem control unit 101 starts the process from step S307 of movingimage playback processing.

Touch operational Processing

Touch operational Processing to perform processing corresponding to atouch operation input when touch operational display items are displayedon the display unit 108 in the digital camera 100 according to theembodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. 7.

In step S701, the system control unit 101 determines whether a touchoperation has been detected. More specifically, the system control unit101 determines whether a touch operation has been detected, bydetermining whether a control signal corresponding to a touch operationinput on the touch panel has been received from the operation input unit109. If the system control unit 101 determines that a touch operationhas been detected, it shifts the process to step S702; if it determinesthat no touch operation has been detected, to step S709.

In step S702, the system control unit 101 determines whether thedetected touch operation is a touch operation to the playback touch item602 that is an instruction to perform the playback start function. Morespecifically, the system control unit 101 refers to information aboutcoordinates at which the touch operation acquired from the operationinput unit 109 has been input, and determines whether the coordinatesfall within a region of a predetermined size set in correspondence withthe playback touch item 602. If the system control unit 101 determinesthat the detected touch operation is a touch operation to the playbacktouch item 602, it shifts the process to step S703; if it determinesthat the detected touch operation is not a touch operation to theplayback touch item 602, to step S704.

In step S703, the system control unit 101 starts playing back a movingimage from the current frame, and then performs the above-describedprocessing during playback in FIG. 5.

In step S704, the system control unit 101 determines whether thedetected touch operation is a touch operation to the volume controltouch item 604 that is an instruction to perform the volume controlfunction. More specifically, the system control unit 101 refers toinformation about coordinates at which the touch operation acquired fromthe operation input unit 109 has been input, and determines whether thecoordinates fall within a region of a predetermined size set incorrespondence with the volume control touch item 604. If the systemcontrol unit 101 determines that the detected touch operation is a touchoperation to the volume control touch item 604, it shifts the process tostep S705; if it determines that the detected touch operation is not atouch operation to the volume control touch item 604, to step S706.

In step S705, the system control unit 101 accepts the touch operationassociated with volume control, and stores information about thecontrolled volume as volume information in the RAM 103. Note that thevolume information is reflected in an audio signal to be output to aloudspeaker (not shown) in moving image playback. At this time, toensure good visibility of the display unit 108, the system control unit101 may control the display not to superimpose items other than adetailed volume control item 612 and the return instruction touch item601, as shown in FIG. 6B. The volume is controlled by, for example, avolume-up button 611 or volume-down button 613 after touch-down to thevolume control touch item 604, or a move operation input for thedetailed volume control item 611. If the system control unit 101recognizes the completion of the volume control operation from a touchoperation to the return instruction touch item 601, it shifts theprocess to step S709.

In step S706, the system control unit 101 determines whether thedetected touch operation is a touch operation (move) to the sequencetouch item 603 that is an instruction to perform the frame feedingfunction. More specifically, the system control unit 101 refers toinformation about coordinates at which the touch-down acquired from theoperation input unit 109 has been input, and determines whether thecoordinates fall within a region of a predetermined size set incorrespondence with the sequence touch item 603. If the system controlunit 101 determines that the detected touch operation is a touchoperation to the sequence touch item 603, it shifts the process to stepS707; if it determines that the detected touch operation is not a touchoperation to the sequence touch item 603, to step S708.

In step S707, the system control unit 101 reads out, from the RAM 103 orrecording medium 107, the image of a designated frame of a moving imagethat corresponds to a frame index 620 moved by the move on the sequencetouch item 603, and transmits it to the image processing unit 106. Also,the system control unit 101 reads out GUI data of the sequence touchitem 603 and playback touch item 602 from the ROM 102, transmits them tothe image processing unit 106, and controls the image processing unit106 to superimpose them on the designated frame image. In the digitalcamera 100 according to the embodiment, the system control unit 101 maycontrol the display not to superimpose items other than the playbacktouch item 602 and sequence touch item 603, as shown in FIG. 6C, inorder to ensure good visibility of a frame image when a frame feedingoperation is input. If the system control unit 101 detects, from atouch-up operation, the completion of moving the frame index, it shiftsthe process to step S709.

In step S708, the system control unit 101 determines whether thedetected touch operation is a touch operation to the return instructiontouch item 601. More specifically, the system control unit 101 refers toinformation about coordinates at which the touch operation acquired fromthe operation input unit 109 has been input, and determines whether thecoordinates fall within a region of a predetermined size set incorrespondence with the return instruction touch item 601. If the systemcontrol unit 101 determines that the detected touch operation is a touchoperation to the return instruction touch item 601, it shifts theprocess to step S301 of the above-described moving image playbackprocessing in FIG. 3; if it determines that the detected touch operationis not a touch operation to the return instruction touch item 601, tostep S709.

In step S709, the system control unit 101 determines whether the SETbutton 116 has been pressed. If the SET button 116 has been pressed, thesystem control unit 101 returns the process to step S301 of theabove-described moving image playback processing in FIG. 3. If the SETbutton 116 has not been pressed, the system control unit 101 returns theprocess to step S701.

As described above, the electronic apparatus according to the embodimentcan present appropriate information in accordance with a user operation.More specifically, the electronic apparatus includes physical operationmembers and a touch panel which detects a touch operation, and acceptsboth an operation to the physical operation member and a touchoperation. When an instruction to perform the first function is acceptedfrom an operation to the physical operation member, the electronicapparatus displays operation member display items for accepting, from anoperation to the physical operation member, an instruction to performthe second function different from the first function. When aninstruction to perform the first function is accepted from a touchoperation, the electronic apparatus displays touch operational displayitems for accepting, from a touch operation, an instruction to performthe second function.

With this setting, when touch operational display items are displayed,the digital camera 100 according to the embodiment can perform afunction associated with moving image playback only by a touch operationwhile ensuring good visibility.

Note that control by the digital camera 100 may be performed by onehardware unit, or a plurality of hardware units may share processing tocontrol the overall apparatus.

The present invention has been described in detail based on itspreferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited tothese specific embodiments, and includes various forms without departingfrom the gist of the invention. Further, each embodiment described aboveis merely an embodiment of the present invention, and the embodimentscan be appropriately combined.

In the above-described embodiments, the present invention is applied tothe digital camera 100. However, the present invention is not limited tothe above example, and is also applicable to an arbitrary apparatus inwhich operations to different types of operation members are assigned toone function. More specifically, the present invention is applicable toa personal computer, a PDA, a mobile phone, a portable image viewer, aprinter apparatus with a display, a digital photo frame, a music player,a game machine, an electronic book reader, and the like.

As an example of assigning operations to a plurality of input means toperform one function, the embodiment has explained processes for anoperation to a physical operation member and a touch operation. However,the practice of the present invention is not limited to this. Thepresent invention is applicable to an electronic apparatus in whichoperation methods by different types of operation members are assignedto one function.

For example, the present invention is applicable to a PC to which amouse is connected as an operation member of the first type and akeyboard is connected as an operation member of the second type. In thiscase, the control unit of the PC changes the display contents of aninformation display depending on which of the mouse and keyboard hasbeen used to issue an instruction to perform the first functionaccompanied by the information display associated with an operation tothe operation member. More specifically, when an image displayinstruction serving as the first function is issued, the control unitchanges an information display which is displayed on the display deviceand pertains to the operation methods of an enlargement/reductioninstruction and rotation instruction serving as the second function. Forexample, when an image display instruction is issued using the mouse(first detection: for example, double-clicking a file), the control unitsuperimposes and displays, on an image, icons selectable with the mouseto issue an enlargement/reduction instruction and rotation instruction.When an image display instruction is issued using the keyboard (seconddetection: for example, pressing the Enter key while selecting a file),the control unit superimposes and displays, on an image, thenotifications of shortcut keys to which an enlargement/reductioninstruction and rotation instruction are assigned. With this setting,the user can perform a series of operations without switching the handholding the operation member to be operated from one to the other.

Other Embodiments

Aspects of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of asystem or apparatus (or devices such as a CPU or MPU) that reads out andexecutes a program recorded on a memory device to perform the functionsof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method, the steps ofwhich are performed by a computer of a system or apparatus by, forexample, reading out and executing a program recorded on a memory deviceto perform the functions of the above-described embodiment(s). For thispurpose, the program is provided to the computer for example via anetwork or from a recording medium of various types serving as thememory device (for example, computer-readable medium).

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2012-018639, filed Jan. 31, 2012, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

1-17. (canceled)
 18. An electronic apparatus comprising: a firstoperation unit including one or more buttons; a second operation unitincluding a touch panel; and a memory and at least one processor whichfunction as: a performing unit configured to perform a first functionand a second function, wherein the first function is able to beperformed in accordance with each of an operation to the first operationunit and an operation to the second operation unit, and wherein thesecond function is able to be performed after the first function; and adisplay control unit configured to control displaying first operationaldisplay items in response to an operation for performing the firstfunction to the first operation unit, and to control displaying secondoperational display items in response to an operation for performing thefirst function to the second operation unit, wherein the second functionis performed in accordance with an operation for selecting a first item,which is included in the first operational display items and is an itemfor instructing the performance of the second function, to the firstoperation unit, and the second function is performed in accordance withan operation to the second operation unit when the second operationaldisplay items are displayed.
 19. The apparatus according to claim 18,wherein the touch panel is configured to accept a touch operation to thedisplay.
 20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the firstoperation unit is a hardware operation member different from the touchpanel.
 21. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the performingunit makes an operation member, for which an operation for instructingto perform the second function is able to be performed, differentdepending on whether operational display items, when an operation forperforming the second function is to be accepted, displayed on thedisplay are the first operational display items or the secondoperational display items.
 22. The apparatus according to claim 18,wherein the second function is performed in accordance with anoperation, for selecting an item included in the second operationaldisplay items, to the second operation unit when the second operationaldisplay items are displayed.
 23. The apparatus according to claim 18,wherein the performance of the second function in accordance with anoperation to the second operation unit is restricted while the firstoperational display items are displayed.
 24. The apparatus according toclaim 18, wherein the performance of the second function in accordancewith an operation to the first operation unit is restricted while thesecond operational display items are displayed.
 25. The apparatusaccording to claim 18, wherein the first function includes a movingimage playback stop function.
 26. The apparatus according to claim 18,wherein the second function includes at least one of a moving imageplayback start function, a moving image volume control function, and amoving image frame feeding function.
 27. The apparatus according toclaim 18, wherein a size of an item, which is included in the secondoperational display items and is for instructing the performance of thesecond function, is larger than a size of a first item.
 28. Theapparatus according to claim 18, wherein the display control unitsuperimposes the first operational display items or the secondoperational display items on an image, and controls the display todisplay the image.
 29. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein thefirst operation unit includes a first button configured to switch aselection item out of the first operational display items, and a secondbutton configured to issue an instruction to perform a functioncorresponding to the selection item.
 30. The apparatus according toclaim 18, wherein the first operation unit is configured to input anoperation when a button is pushed down.
 31. The apparatus according toclaim 18, wherein the electronic apparatus is an image sensing apparatusincluding an image sensing unit configured to be able to capture amoving image.
 32. The apparatus according to claim 18, whereinappearances of the first operational display items and appearances thesecond operational display items are different.
 33. The apparatusaccording to claim 18, wherein the display control unit controlsdisplaying either an item for accepting an operation to the firstoperation unit or an item for accepting an operation to the secondoperation unit, wherein both items are for performing the same function.34. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the number of the firstoperational display items is different from the number of the secondoperational display items.
 35. A method for controlling an electronicapparatus including a first operation unit and a second operation unit,the method comprising: performing a first function and a secondfunction, wherein the first function is able to be performed inaccordance with each of an operation to the first operation unit and anoperation to the second operation unit, and wherein the second functionis able to be performed after the first function; controlling displayingfirst operational display items in response to an operation forperforming the first function to the first operation unit; andcontrolling displaying second operational display items in response toan operation for performing the first function to the second operationunit, wherein the second function is performed in accordance with anoperation for selecting a first item, which is included in the firstoperational display items and is an item for instructing the performanceof the second function, to the first operation unit, the second functionis performed in accordance with an operation to the second operationunit when the second operational display items are displayed, and thefirst operation unit includes one or more buttons, and the secondoperation unit includes a touch panel.
 36. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor of anelectronic apparatus, which includes a first operation unit and a secondoperation unit, to: perform a first function and a second function,wherein the first function is able to be performed in accordance witheach of an operation to the first operation unit and an operation to thesecond operation unit, and wherein the second function is able to beperformed after the first function; control displaying first operationaldisplay items in response to an operation for performing the firstfunction to the first operation unit; and control displaying secondoperational display items in response to an operation for performing thefirst function to the second operation unit, wherein the second functionis performed in accordance with an operation for selecting a first item,which is included in the first operational display items and is an itemfor instructing the performance of the second function, to the firstoperation unit, the second function is performed in accordance with anoperation to the second operation unit when the second operationaldisplay items are displayed, and the first operation unit includes oneor more buttons, the second operation unit includes a touch panel. 37.An electronic apparatus having an image sensing function, the electronicapparatus comprising: a first operation unit including one or morebuttons; a second operation unit including a touch panel; and a memoryand at least one processor which function as: a performing unitconfigured to perform a first function and a second function which isdifferent from the first function, wherein the first function is able tobe performed in accordance with each of an operation to the firstoperation unit and an operation to the second operation unit, and thesecond function is able to be performed in accordance with each of anoperation to the first operation unit and an operation to the secondoperation unit; and a display control unit configured to control adisplay to display items to perform functions if the items are selectedby an operation to the first operation unit or the second operationunit, wherein the display control unit controls the display to displayfirst operational display items including an item, which is able to beselected by an operation to the first operation unit and which causesthe electronic apparatus to perform the second function, based on anoperation, by which the first function is performed, to the firstoperation unit, wherein the display control unit controls the display todisplay second operational display items including an item, which isable to be selected by an operation to the second operation unit andwhich causes the electronic apparatus to perform the second function,based on an operation, by which the first function is performed, to thesecond operation unit, and wherein performing the second function by theperforming unit in accordance with an operation to the second operationunit is restricted while the first operational display items aredisplayed on the display.
 38. A method for controlling an electronicapparatus including a first operation unit and a second operation unit,the method comprising: performing a first function and a second functionwhich is different from the first function, wherein the first functionis able to be performed in accordance with each of an operation to thefirst operation unit and an operation to the second operation unit, andthe second function is able to be performed in accordance with each ofan operation to the first operation unit and an operation to the secondoperation unit; controlling a display to display items to performfunctions if the items are selected by an operation to the firstoperation unit or the second operation unit, controlling the display todisplay first operational display items including an item, which is ableto be selected by an operation to the first operation unit and whichcauses the electronic apparatus to perform the second function, based onan operation, by which the first function is performed, to the firstoperation unit, and controlling the display to display secondoperational display items including an item, which is able to beselected by an operation to the second operation unit and which causesthe electronic apparatus to perform the second function, based on anoperation, by which the first function is performed, to the secondoperation unit, wherein performing the second function in accordancewith an operation to the second operation unit is restricted while thefirst operational display items are displayed on the display, andwherein the first operation unit includes one or more buttons, thesecond operation unit includes a touch panel, and the electronicapparatus has an image sensing function.
 39. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor of anelectronic apparatus, which includes a first operation unit and a secondoperation unit, to: perform a first function and a second function whichis different from the first function, wherein the first function is ableto be performed in accordance with each of an operation to the firstoperation unit and an operation to the second operation unit, and thesecond function is able to be performed in accordance with each of anoperation to the first operation unit and an operation to the secondoperation unit; control a display to display items to perform functionsif the items are selected by an operation to the first operation unit orthe second operation unit, control the display to display firstoperational display items including an item, which is able to beselected by an operation to the first operation unit and which causesthe electronic apparatus to perform the second function, based on anoperation, by which the first function is performed, to the firstoperation unit, and control the display to display second operationaldisplay items including an item, which is able to be selected by anoperation to the second operation unit and which causes the electronicapparatus to perform the second function, based on an operation, bywhich the first function is performed, to the second operation unit,wherein performing the second function in accordance with an operationto the second operation unit is restricted while the first operationaldisplay items are displayed on the display, and wherein the firstoperation unit includes one or more buttons, the second operation unitincludes a touch panel, and the electronic apparatus has an imagesensing function.